


Finals Be Damned

by Netflixbingingandfandomshipping



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunk Cat roasts everyone, F/M, Ned's in love and can't handle it, Robert and Brandon actually suck at getting the girl, or any girl really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-06-20 18:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15540708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netflixbingingandfandomshipping/pseuds/Netflixbingingandfandomshipping
Summary: Ned gets dragged to a part by Brandon and Robert. He thinks he's going to spend the night babysitting. Luckily, he meets Cat instead.





	1. Chapter 1

Parties were never Ned’s thing. So, when his brother and best friend dragged him to a random house party, Ned was less than thrilled. Somehow he had ended up squeezed in between people he didn’t know on a couch that he didn’t want to know what had happened on with a beer in hand, watching Robert and Brandon hit on any girl that came near them. 

Most girls escaped his brother’s charms. As Brandon got increasingly drunker, the girls saw through him more quickly. 

Ned recognized Brandon’s current attempt at a one night stand. She was in his philosophy class. Catelyn, he thought her name was. Their philosophy final was tomorrow, which was one of the many reasons Ned did not want to attend this party. While Robert and Brandon got to celebrate the end of the term, Ned’s-- and Catelyn’s-- was not done. 

In any case, she looked too drunk to care. She even seemed to be mildly enjoying Brandon’s jokes. That was until Brandon started to get a little handsy. 

He saw Catelyn step back from Brandon, but Brandon did not take the hint. Ned knew it was time to step in. 

Ned strode across the room, and slung his arm around his brother’s shoulder to prevent him from reaching for Catelyn again. 

“Ned!” Brandon yelled. “Where have you been? Are you suitably drunk?”

“Considering I have a final tomorrow, yes,” Ned snarked. He turned to Catelyn. “Hi, I’m Ned.”

Despite her drunken state, Catelyn still reached out to shake Ned’s hand. “Hi, I’m Cat.”

“I see you have been getting to know my brother here,” Ned said, slapping his brother on the shoulder. 

“I wasn’t so much getting to know him as I was enduring him hitting on me,” Cat threw back. 

Ned chuckled; he could practically hear his brother sulking. Ned clapped Brandon on the back again. “Well, you heard her, Bran. She’s not interested. Go find someone who is.”

Brandon had already spotted another pretty girl and was after her. Cat leaned against the wall behind her and laughed into her drink as she watched the girl roll her eyes at what she was sure were the same lines Brandon had tried on her. Ned leaned beside her on the wall. She glanced over at him. “Is he always like this?” 

Ned nodded, “Oh, yes. Be glad our friend, Robert, didn’t find you first. His lines are much worse.”

Cat laughed. “I don’t think I could have endured that.”

They lapsed into a strangely comfortable silence for a first meeting. Ned watched Cat sway her head to the music. She really was beautiful. 

Cat finished her drink, then nodded toward the kitchen. “Wanna get another drink?” she asked him. 

Ned looked down at his half-finished beer. He met Cat’s eyes again and shrugged his agreement. 

He finished his beer while walking through the maze of people on their way to the kitchen. The kitchen itself was fairly empty. Ned tossed his empty beer can into the trash. 

Cat moved around with practiced ease. She pulled a liquor bottle from a cabinet before grabbing some soda from the fridge to mix with. 

“You know,” Ned started as he watched Cat pour liquor in two cups, “I’ve seen you in my philosophy class. In which, we have a final tomorrow.” 

Cat paused her pouring to look at Ned. She raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And,” Ned drew the word out to gather his thoughts. “While I admit you are very sharp, you also seem to be very drunk.”

Cat laughed, “You are not wrong. However, I do intend to get drunker still.” She handed him a cup, and tapped her to it, raising it in a ‘cheers’ gesture. 

Ned took a hesitant sip. It was stronger than he expected, but not too much. Cat was a good mixer. 

“Do you intend to take the final tomorrow?” Ned asked. 

Cat swallowed a mouthful of her drink. “Of course,” she offered without explanation. 

Ned just looked at her, waiting for the explanation. 

She took another swallow. “I don’t get hangovers,” she shrugged. 

Ned hummed, “Hmm, well, lucky you. I, on the other hand, do.” Ned set his cup on the counter. 

“What are you doing out tonight, then?” Cat asked with genuine curiosity.

Ned sighed, “Robert and Brandon both finished their finals today, and, despite my protests, they would not allow me to stay home and study.”

“Well. if you aren’t ready by now, cramming all night won’t help anyway,” Cat stated matter-of-factly. Ned found he couldn’t argue with her.

Cat finished her drink, and moved to refill it. Ned was staring at her again. That’s when she noticed Ned’s mostly full drink sitting on the counter. “Come on, Ned. If you’re going to stare at me, the least you can do it drink with me,” Cat teased. 

Ned’s expression remained the same, but a blush crept across his cheeks. He picked his drink back up and took a sip. “Our test is at seven tomorrow morning, Cat, and, like I told you, I get hangovers.”

She turned to face him with one hand on her hip and the other wrapped around her cup. “How much have you had tonight?” she asked. 

Ned shrugged, “A beer or two.”

Cat nodded and moved his cup toward his mouth. “Perfect. You can definitely drink that with me and still be fine for our test.”

Ned shook his head. “You’re a bad influence,” he said, but took a swig of his drink nonetheless. 

A thought occurred to Cat. “I really have to pee,” she blurted. Ned and Cat just stared at each other for a moment before Cat started to laugh. “Wow, I’m drunker than I thought. I really did not mean to say that out loud.”

Ned tried to hide his smirk in his cup. 

Cat shrugged, “Since you already know, you might as well come with me.”

Ned balked at that, and choked a little on his drink. “What?” he coughed. 

“Yeah, the bathroom door won’t lock. You can come with me and stand in front of it,” Cat explained. 

Ned blinked at her. Cat dragged him by his hand toward the bathroom before he could protest. 

Ned recovered from his shock just before she pulled him into the bathroom. “Whoa, I don’t need to be in there with you.” Ned could feel the heat of a blush spread up his neck. 

Cat tugged his hand again. “Come on. How can I be sure that Robert or Brandon won’t come by and drag you away? You can just turn around while I go,” Cat insisted. 

Ned reluctantly nodded his consent; he had never been one to abandon someone in need. 

Cat had barely set her drink down by the sink before Ned spun around to face the closed door. He recited philosophy facts in his head in order to give Cat some privacy until she tapped him on the shoulder. 

“I’m good now. Thanks for guarding the door,” she punctuated that with a kiss on his cheek. 

Ned felt his heart stutter. Cat was gorgeous, and the pretty girls never liked him more than his brother. “Oh, hell,” Ned mumbled as Cat opened the bathroom door. He chugged his drink and hers, when he noticed she had left it by the sink. 

Cat was beckoning to him, “Ned, you have to come see this.” 

He grabbed both cups, and went over to her. “What’s going on?” he asked. 

Cat pointed down the hall toward two people pressed against the wall. “Brandon appears to have had better luck with her than he did with me,” Cat giggled. 

“Know what would be fun?” Ned asked. 

“What?” Cat asked back, reaching for her cup with him. 

He released it willingly. “We should sic Robert on Brandon. That’ll be fun to watch,” Ned suggested. 

Cat nodded vigorously in agreement. “Yes, but first let’s get more to drink since you drank mine,” she laughed. 

Ned followed Cat back to the kitchen, looking for Robert along the way. 

Cat was mixing drinks when Ned said, “I have an idea.”

Cat raised an eyebrow at him. He walked to the kitchen doorway and yelled, “Robert Baratheon can’t hold his liquor!”

A laugh bubbled out of Cat. Ned turned to face her, “Now, we wait.”

They leaned against the counter and sipped their drinks. Just over a minute passed when Ned spotted him. Robert was red-faced and barreling through people in an attempt to get to whoever insulted him. 

He was standing near the kitchen doorway looking for the culprit, when Ned said, “Hey, Robert, we were looking for you.”

“Ned!” he yelled and came toward him. 

“Robert, this is Cat,” Ned introduced. Cat leaned across Ned to extend her hand to Robert. 

“Is she why you were looking for me?” Robert asked bluntly. Ned rolled his eyes at Robert’s lack of tact and shared a look with Cat that said ‘didn’t I say he’s worse than Brandon?’ 

“No,” Ned answered. “We were looking for you because we saw Brandon with a girl who would obviously like you better.”

“Well, of course, she’d like me better. Who wouldn’t?” Robert stated.

“Right,” Ned said as he resisted rolling his eyes again. “We’ll show you her.” 

Ned encouraged Cat to lead the way with his hand on the small of her back. When they had shoved their way back to Brandon, they stepped out of the way so Robert could see them. 

Ned saw a couch where they could sit and still see the drama unfold easily. “Hey, let’s sit here,” Ned indicated the couch. He plopped down, and was very surprised when Cat perched herself on his lap. 

Cat looked down at him. “You were right. Robert is worse than your brother.”

“Yes, I apologize for him,” Ned grimaced. 

“Apology accepted. Besides you more than make up for it,” Cat said. 

Ned smiled at her. He went to take a sip of his drink, and realized how low it was. He finished it, tossed the cup to the side table, and set his hands on Cat’s hips. He moved her slightly, so he could see around her to where Robert and Brandon were fighting. 

Ned checked his watch; it was nearing one in the morning. “As amusing as they are, I’m going to have to take them home soon,” Ned said regretfully. 

“Mmm,” Cat murmured. “But I’ll still see you at the final tomorrow?”

Ned nodded, “Where are you staying tonight? I can walk you there.” 

Cat shook her head. “I’m just next door.”

Cat reluctantly rose off his lap, and offered a hand to pull him up. Ned stood and saw over Cat’s head that Robert and Brandon were close to blows. Ned knew he had to act fast. He spoke quickly, “Cat, I would very much like to take you out tomorrow night, if you were agreeable to that.”

Cat reached up and kissed Ned. “Yes, Ned, I would be agreeable to that.”

“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ned ran off to corral his brother and best friend back to their apartment. His final thought before falling asleep was of Cat and how much fun they had tonight. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was ten til seven, and Cat was sitting in the lecture hall doing one final sweep of her notes before her final. She hadn’t seen Ned yet. She really hoped he wouldn’t miss the final. 

Cat was stuffing her notes into her bag when someone slammed into the chair beside her. She looked over to see Ned wearing sunglasses and pouring a Red Bull into his coffee cup. “Hi, Ned,” she said brightly. 

He looked her dead in the eyes and said, “I’m going to die.”

She couldn’t hold in her laugh. “After the final,” Cat promised.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Life gets in the way, you know.

Ned was beyond frustrated. All he wanted to do was finish his studying in his own bedroom, but, somehow, both his roommates and his girlfriend were currently distracting him from his work. 

It started with Ned sitting at his desk with his notes strewn across his desk. He started when he heard a soft knock at his door. “Come in,” he called. 

Cat stuck her head in and said, “Hey, I brought you a sandwich. You’ve been in here a while. I thought you might be hungry.” 

Ned checked the clock on his laptop. He’d been locked in his room for hours and the thought of food still hadn’t broken his focus. “Thanks, Cat,” Ned replied, affection lacing his words. 

She handed Ned the sandwich’ then, moved a pile of papers off his desk and laid them on his laptop. “How’s the studying going?” she asked, hopping up on the desk in the spot where those papers had been. 

“It’s going well. I’m not as far as I’d like to be, but I’m getting there,” Ned said with his mouth full. 

Cat gave him a reproachful look. Ned swallowed before apologizing, “Sorry.”

“Honestly, Ned, you’re worse than Robert sometimes,” Cat said with a roll of her eyes. 

Ned made a mock offended noise. 

Cat laughed. She bit her lip as she started to tell Ned why she really sought him out. “Speaking of Robert, he’s being annoying.”

“Is he talking to you using only thinly veiled innuendos again?” Ned asked. 

“Yes,” Cat pouted, crossing her arms. “Can I stay in here for a while?” 

Ned leaned back in his chair. “Ah,” he sighed, “I see. You brought this sandwich as a bribe.”

“No, actually, I brought the sandwich in here because you have a habit of forgetting to eat,” Cat corrected. She paused a moment before adding, “Plus, I thought it might be motivating to have me here.” 

Ned raised an eyebrow at her. She continued with a grin, “The faster you finish studying, the faster we can move on to other things.”

“Gods, Cat, I’m never going to be able to focus now,” Ned groaned. 

“I’m just teasing, Ned. Although, you know I am absolutely up for that,” Cat snickered. “I just wanted to spend some time with you. I’ll be quiet; I swear.”

“Of course you’re welcome here, Cat. I just want to finish this last chapter. After that, we can...do whatever you want,” Ned finished with a smirk. 

Cat kissed him and hopped off his desk. “Better get to work then, sweetling.”

She moved over to his bed, and made herself comfortable against the headboard. She wrapped a blanket around herself before picking up the book she had left on his bedside table. 

Ned rolled his eyes; he thought his room was comfortable, but Cat was always cold. It never bothered Ned, except in the middle of the night when Cat pressed her cold fingers and toes against him. Ned never complained no matter how irritating it was to be woken up that way. If he was honest with himself, it was actually a nice reminder of Cat’s presence. 

A welcome silence settled over the room. The only noise being the tapping of Ned’s laptop keys as he took notes, and the rustle of Cat’s book as she turned pages. 

Ned only made it through a few more pages of his textbook before Brandon showed up. His entrance was less subtle than Cat’s had been. 

Brandon threw the door open. “I need help with a girl,” he said without preamble. 

Ned sighed, still staring at his textbook. “And you thought to come in here because?” Aggravation bled into Ned’s words. 

“Because Cat’s in here.” Brandon said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world as he made himself at the foot of Ned’s bed. 

Ned’s head snapped up at that. He locked eyes with Brandon. “What?” 

“I said, Cat’s in here,” Brandon repeated. 

Ned rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I heard you. I know Cat’s in here. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I came to ask Cat to help me with my girl problems,” Brandon said. 

Ned looked at Cat. “Do you two discuss these Brandon’s girl problems often?”

She was trying to hide her smile behind her book, but the look on Ned’s face was too funny. She laughed, “Often enough. How’d you even know I was in here?” she asked while folding the corner of the page to mark her spot. 

“Robert told me you brought Ned a sandwich and never came back. I figured you came down to avoid him. He thought you guys were fucking. I knew you weren’t because we couldn’t hear you, Cat,” Brandon answered. 

Ned was out of his chair and yelling before Brandon had even finished. “Brandon, that is no way to talk to my girlfriend!” Cat intercepted him. She grabbed his arm and tugged him over to her spot on the bed. 

“Hey, I don't know what you do to her, but we can always hear it, baby bro.” Brandon wasn’t one to know when to stop talking. 

Ned growled in anger. He started to lunge at his brother, but Cat kept a firm grip on his arm. He turned to look at her; she just smiled at him and moved his arm around her shoulders. 

“It’s not my fault that Ned clearly knows what he’s doing, and you guys don’t. We never hear the girls you and Robert bring home,” Cat teased. She glanced up at Ned. The blush Ned was sporting made her grin bigger. She leaned up to kiss his cheek and settled more comfortably against his chest. 

The yelling had drawn Robert out of the living room and into Ned’s room. “I heard my name,” Robert said, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Yeah, we’re talking about how you and Brandon suck at sex,” Cat said. 

“We can text that theory if you want,” Robert grinned lecherously. 

“Ned,” Cat whined. 

Ned looked at Robert. “Robert, stop trying to get my girlfriend to have sex with you. She very clearly doesn’t want to,” Ned stated firmly. 

“She started it,” Robert mumbled. He sank into Ned’s desk chair. 

“I didn’t start it earlier. I was literally just sitting in the living room watching TV,” Cat pointed out. The words, besides being an obvious accusation, also held a bit of a barb in them. Ned knew her Tully temper was about to come out. 

He diffused the situation. “Regardless of who started it, don't do it anymore,” Ned ordered. 

Ned didn’t use his commanding voice very often, but he did on Robert in that moment. Robert was making Cat uncomfortable, and Ned would not allow that to happen when he could do something about it. He would do anything for her, and yelling at his best friend was easy enough. He did that all the time anyway. 

Robert put his hands up in surrender.

“Can we get back to me now?” Brandon whined, feeling like the conversation had gone way off course. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Robert rumbled. 

“Girl troubles,” Cat piped up. 

Robert threw his hands up. “See Brandon’s the one who’s bad at sex, not me.”

Ned rolled his eyes; of course, something like that would bruise Robert’s ego. Cat stifled a giggle against Ned’s shoulder. Brandon shot Robert a glare, and took one of his shoes off to throw at Robert. “Shut up. This is serious. I came down here for Cat’s opinion, not yours.”

“Alright, Brandon, what’s going on?” Cat asked, ending the fight that was brewing between Brandon and Robert. 

Brandon turned to face her. “Okay, here’s what happened,” he started. 

Ned zoned out almost immediately. He wanted to reach his goal for the day; he was close, only a chapter and a half away. He longed to get back to his quiet studying. 

Brandon’s love life was always a wreck that Ned could scarcely be of any help with. Even if Ned gave Brandon his advice, Brandon wasn’t likely to heed it. 

Ned understood why Brandon wanted to get Cat’s opinion. She could give Brandon insight into the female mind, and could gently tell him how dumb he was acting toward a girl. “Oh my God! You did not actually say that to her. How dumb can you be?” Cat shouted. Well, sometimes she was gentle. 

Robert wasn’t helpful, however. Every suggestion that Cat made, Robert rebuffed. “A girl would never go for that,” Robert scoffed. 

Ned could see the anger in Cat’s eyes. “I literally am a girl. I know better than you,” Cat huffed impatiently. 

The longer the conversation went on, the more Ned got sucked in. By the time Brandon had come around to realize that Cat was right and Robert was absolutely wrong. Ned didn’t care about finishing his studying. He could finish it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to keep working on this periodically. I might have an idea for chapter 3; I'm not sure yet. If you have a college au that you want written about them, let me know. I'll do my best to write it.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had so much fun writing this. I have an idea for a part two. If anyone is interested, let me know.


End file.
